Five Oxford academics appeared in the New Year’s Honours list which was announced on Saturday 29th December.
The honours include a knighthood for Professor Hew Strachan, a damehood for Professor Carol Robinson and CBEs for Professor Judith Freedman, Professor David M Clark and Professor Raymond Dwek.
Sir Hew, Chichele Professor of the History of War and Fellow of All Souls College, was awarded his knighthood for services to the Ministry of Defence.
His long career has seen him become an authority on subjects ranging from the First World War to the history of the British Army. Sir Hew is also Chief of the Defence Staff Strategic Advisory Panel and a member of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Foreign Policy magazine recently listed him as being in the top 100 most influential global thinkers.
First-year physicist David Harris said of Sir Hew, “This guy sounds amazing. I want to spend my life doing cool stuff in the MoD, which is too secret to be able to discuss at the dinner table, and then get a Knighthood for it!”
A DBE was awarded to Professor Carol Robinson, Fellow of Exeter College. Dame Carol received her honour for services to science and industry. A renowned chemist, she is also a Royal Society Professor. One of her areas of interest is the application of mass spectroscopy, the laboratory technique of separating components of a sample by their mass-to-charge ratio, used largely for analytical purposes. On hearing the news, Dame Carol said, “I was delighted to receive this honour and I have to say very surprised. I am still getting used to the title but think that I could get to like it!”
Fellow dame, and former colleague from Dame Carol’s Cambridge days, Professor Dame Athene Donald tweeted, “Delighted to see Oxford’s (and ex Cambridge) chemist Carol Robinson get DBE – great to have another scientific dame!”
Three CBEs will join the ranks of Oxford academics. Professor Judith Freedman, Professor of Taxation Law and Fellow of Worcester College, was made a CBE for services to tax research. Freedman specialises in the fields of corporate and business taxation. She is a member of HMRC’s Panel of International Academic Tax Expertise on Business and has served on a number of law societies.
Professor David M Clark, Fellow of Magdalen College and Professor of Experimental Psychology, was also awarded a CBE and said, “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award which provides important recognition in the UK of the value of scientific research on psychological therapies and their dissemination, as well as the need for public transparency in reporting the outcomes of our mental health services.”
Equally pleased was Professor Raymond Dwek, Director of the Glycobiology Institute and Emeritus Fellow of Exeter College, honoured with a CBE for services to UK-Israel scientific collaboration.
Dwek argued for the importance of his work, stating, “I feel that science can be a powerful force for peace and dialogue. I believe that scientific links can help improve lives and there are benefits to all in that region. For instance, our current UK Ambassador Matthew Gould has started an important initiative in regenerative medicine (stem cells) which will have enormous health benefits to both countries.”
These five academics now join the ranks of the many Oxford dons who have been honoured in the past. Keble PPEist Emma Alexander said of the quintet, “That Oxford academics are being recognised in this way feels incredible for us as students. It drives home to you that it’s an honour (if you’ll pardon the pun) to be lucky enough to study somewhere as amazing as here; we receive tuition from people who are truly world- class.”
